The Masked Man
Zach "The Masked Man" Steel is a custom wrestler created by RZ2321. He is best known by his initial ring name "The Masked Man", but later added "Zach Steel" to his name in order to eliminate confusion with other wrestlers of the past. The character made his debut in the game WWE '13 during the summer of 2013. Steel was RZ2321's first ever created wrestler, and is remade each year as the new WWE games release. Wrestling Career First Championship The Masked Man has been a dominant force in the locker room since his debut in 2013. His first championship came later that same year, defeating Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Steel would hold that title for seven months before dropping it to Kingston, only to win it back the next week on Monday Night Raw. Forming The Brotherhood Before the end of 2013, Steel created a faction known as The Brotherhood alongside his younger brother Ace. Together they would dominated the tag team division, winning the WWE Tag Team Titles on an episode of Raw from the Shield by early 2014. As the team became more and more successful, they began adding members to the faction including the Hawaiian Assassin and Maverick. The pair later lost their titles after a rivalry formed between them. Rivalry with Ace By mid 2014, the Brotherhood seemed unstoppable until it began to crumble from within. A rivalry brew between The Masked Man and Ace after Steel inadvertently cost his brother their tag team title match. Ace held the Intercontinental Championship at the time, while The Masked Man held the United States title. This resulted in a champion vs. champion match heated enough to put an end to the Brotherhood faction. Reviving a Lost Title After losing the United States title in 2014, The Masked Man was sent over to Smackdown where he won the Intercontinental Championship from his former partner Ace. Steel held the title for almost a year, but vacated it after winning a match for the World Heavyweight Championship, a title which was supposed to be retired. He was given a chance to reinstate the title in order to continue its legacy, while also giving more superstars a chance to be a world champion. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Steel began to travel the world with the title and defended it outside of the WWE, building his own gym in his hometown and began defending it on a weekly basis. The Doom By the end of 2016, The Masked Man had formed an alliance with Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam. The trio eventually became known as The Doom. They made quite an impact on Smackdown together, defeating several notable teams, including The Shield. The Doom pushed for 3-man tag team titles to be created for the WWE, but the idea was declined. The group never officially broke up, but eventually fizzled out entirely. Triple Threat Trouble Sometime during his world title reign, Steel found himself in the middle of a feud between Steve Hendrickson and The Entity (Wrestler). Both superstars were fighting for the #1 contender spot, and neither of them were able to beat the other clean. As a result, the three had several matches for the title, most notably a triple threat Iron Man Match, which Steel successfully defended his title in. The Return of the Brotherhood After Ace's return in early 2018, The Masked Man rejoined his brother to bring back The Brotherhood faction. The Brotherhood also recruited a new member by the name of Colt Freeman. Unlike their previous run, the members of the Brotherhood became ringside managers for each other with the goal to win singles titles rather than the tag team titles. This resulted in Ace winning the WWE Universal Championship and Steel retrieving his World Heavyweight Championship from Kenny Omega. Defending the World Championship After reinstating the world championship and taking it outside of the WWE, the Masked Man defended his title for years on end. He managed to secure it in matches of all kinds, including Elimination Chamber matches and inside the Hell in a Cell structure. Steel dropped the title to several notable wrestlers including Kenny Omega, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but always managed to win it back eventually. The Masked Man continued his reign until of October of 2018, where he vacated the title after winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. Mr. Money in the Bank Near the end of 2018, Steel was chosen to be a part of a very unique elimination chamber match for the Money in the Bank briefcase. He entered the match at number 3, managed to outlast the others and win the match. For the first time in his career, the Masked Man held the briefcase and had a guaranteed shot at the WWE Championship. Having never held the prestigious title before, he decided to drop the world title which he was regularly defending outside of the WWE to focus on his run with the company. Becoming WWE Champion Not long after winning the briefcase, the Masked Man cashed in his opportunity at the title. Wanting it to be a fair match, he announced he would cash in his briefcase ahead of time, giving the current champion time to prepare. The match, which would take place at WWE Super Show-Down, saw Steel defeating A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship in a normal 1-on-1 match. Steel had held titles in the WWE before, but winning the WWE Championship and knowing its history made it one of, if not the biggest win of his career. After defeating Styles in a rematch, the champion vowed to defend the title often and give as many challengers the opportunities they deserved to become the champion. As of October 2018, the Masked Man still holds the title. Forming M-Double-A Although he had already spent many years in the WWE, becoming the WWE Champion made Steel a bigger target than ever before, even considering his multi-year run as the world champion. This was because the Masked Man became the champion at a time when the WWE was more competitive than it had been in a long time. Legends were coming out of retirement for matches, and some of the best indy wrestlers in the world had climbed their way up to the top the WWE ladder. Biggest Rivals The Masked Man has been part of many big rivalries over the years. His longest running feud is with Kevin Nash, who screwed him out of a chance to be #1 contender for the WWE Championship back in 2014. Since then, Nash and Steel have continued to be interfere with each other's matches from time to time. Brock Lesnar was another one of the Masked Man's bigger rivals in several big matches starting all the way back at WWE Payback pay-per-view in 2014. Personality Aside from his brief run as a heel in late 2017, the Masked Man has always been a respectful and loyal superstar. However, if he is pushed over the edge by a challenger, Steel becomes fixated on not only defeating them, but to exact his revenge on them for what they may have done. He has never turned on his teammates, and has only feuded with them over mistakes made during their alliance. Behind the Scenes Since the Masked Man was created in 2013 his appearance has changed drastically, and was inspired by many different wrestlers and personalities. Steel's first attire actually featured him in a suit with a custom yellow variation of Rey Mysterio's mask. After just a few matches, RZ2321 switched his suit for a open jacket with a hood. The use of the custom yellow Rey Mysterio mask has always stuck with the character over the years. Since then he began wearing a custom version of Kane's wrestling bottoms, as well as hand tape closely resembling CM Punk and his attire. RZ2321 decided to add the tape from the straight edge superstar to his character because like CM Punk, he doesn't drink or smoke. Category:Game Character Category:Wrestler